Dharma, Interpretation and Buddhist Feminism

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Dharma, Interpretation and

Buddhist Feminism

1Seung-mee Jo *

Abstract

This article aims to critically examine and re-evaluate androcentric Buddhist

text from a feminist perspective, and to consider the relationship between

interpretation and dharma in theory about women with the hermeneutic approach.

Through the building process ofbhik4u!6 sa9gha the cognized dharma(Truth) and

its interpretation(the world) are contradictory to each other. In early Buddhist texts,

the ambiguous attitude towards both equality and discrimination of women is the

product of male-centered interpretation being asserted as Truth. Therefore, the realm

of truth and women are limited. As the interpretation of emptiness in the Mahyna

Buddhism strengthened, 'the theory of woman's 5 hindrances' has been criticized,and the concept of sexual transformation into male for attainment of Buddhahood

has been transcended. Hence, the creative interpretation by women appears in the

$r6m2l2 s^tra. This research shows the possibility for further projects in Buddhist

feminism.

. Introduction

Buddhism is a religion of liberation. Women could participate in the

path of liberation, since the Buddha admitted women as members of sa9gha.

Early Buddhism pursued equality, and built sa9gha beyond the caste system.However, women were limited in the principle of equality. As the Buddhist

Scholar Gross, Rita M. notes, Buddhism does have an androcentric and

patriarchal record (Gross, 1993: 4). For example, when a woman became a

monk for the first time, the Buddha set the Eight rules of honor, which

*Ph.D. Candidate, Buddhist Studies / Dongguk University


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emphasized the absolute respect to males. Further there are other sexistrecords existent in Buddhism : such as the theory stating that the Buddhist

dharma continuance would be reduced by formation of the community of

Buddhist nuns, the doctrine that women have no attainability of

buddhahood because of their 5 hindrances, and the mythic stories which

show female-to-male sexual transformation to become a Buddha. These

were ideological obstacles to keep women away from endeavoring towards

enlightenment.

The androcentric and patriarchal record of Buddhism reveals that, even

under the pretense of egalitarian philosophies, women's contingent personal

qualities and sex-specific characteristics have been forcibly subordinated

under the assumed essence 'woman'(Tomm, 1995: 240). Many Buddhist

women ask, "Does [Buddhist] religion enforce and perpetuate sex-role

stereotypes and the power of men over women?" (Christ and Plaskow eds.,

1979: 3). Some feminist theologians opt for an assimilationist/reformist

approach which relies on the notion that the tradition is not irreformably

sexist, and other feminist theologians opt for a total revolution entailing the

rejection and abandonment of such traditional symbols, structures, and

language.(Ibid.,: 9-11) However, many Buddhist feminist scholars try to

reilluminate the history of Buddhism focusing more on the feminist

revalorization of Buddhism2 than ultraism that is abandonment of tradition.

This article goes along with this argument, and attempts to reinterpret

Buddhist texts including s^tra.

The written history of Buddhism cannot be considered as unbiased

because it has been created and transmitted with the male-dominant

perspective. 3 Buddhist womens concerns are marginalized from the

mainstream of Buddhist discourse, and efforts are required to overcome the

long-lasting androcentrism4 in Buddhist history. Recent Buddhist studies

2 Gross notes that revalorization contains an implicit judgment, and to revalorize is tohave determined that, however sexist a religious tradition may be, it is notirreparably so. (Gross, 1993: 3)3 The quest for an accurate history stems from the conviction that androcentric

history, by definition, cannot be accurate. (Gross, 1993: 19-20).4 As Gross notes, there is quadruple androcentrism in Buddhism. On the first level,it must be recognized that the preservation of certain Buddhist documents operatedwithin an androcentric context. On the second level, the records by or about womenthat were preserved tended to be overshadowed or ignored in favor of male-centered stories by later Buddhist traditions. On the third level, much of Westernscholarship on Buddhism has reinforced this androcentrism by virtually ignoringthose texts about or by women. On the fourth level, contemporary Buddhism in both


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that have focused on the re-evaluation and restoration of the roles, images,and literature of women have been written predominantly by women. Many

of these scholars are approaching the study of women, sex, and gender in

Buddhism from a feminist perspective. For example, see Rita M. Gross, 1993;

Diana Y. Paul, 1985; and Anne Carolyn Klein, 1995. (Owen, 1997: 46)

This study pursues re-evaluation and reconstruction of Buddhist texts

in feminist perspective, rather than the historical research on the texts.

Therefore it might be different from the description of historical research on

the building process of stras. The purpose of this article is to find out the

relationship between interpretation of Buddhist dharma and the changing

awareness towards women. First of all, it explores the Buddha's

enlightenment and admission of bhik4u!6 sa9gha. The contradicting attitude

towards women in early Buddhist literature will be criticized in terms of the

limited interpretation of dharma. Secondly, it is examined how this

ambivalence is overcome in Mahyna Buddhist stras, and howinterpretation of emptiness has transformed the view toward the equal

status of women and men. Through this study, the meaning of Buddhist

woman's history will be reevaluated with the interpretation of dharma. This

study is expected to make a contribution to Buddhist feminism, and to

provide some hints on the relationship between Buddhist feminism and

Buddhist hermeneutics.

. Women's Capabilities and Discrimination: LimitedInterpretation of Dharma

1. Establishment ofbhik4u!6sa9gha and Rules of Honor to bhik4uAccording to early Buddhist texts, the Buddha kept silence after

achieving enlightenment. He thought that it was impossible to teach dharma

to people because dharma can not be defined by words. With the GodBrahms earnest request, the Buddha changed his mind and decided to turn

the West and Asia has been, according to Rita Gross, unrelenting in its ongoingandrocentrism (Gross,1993: 18). Although Grosss third level reflects the situation ofWestern Buddhism, it is similar to the early modern Korean Buddhist studies ofandrocentrism.


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the wheel of the dharma in the world. Since then, Buddhism has led peopleinto the path of liberation. The second time when the Buddha changed his

mind was when he agreed to the building the bhik4u!6sa9gha. The Buddha

kept rejecting women's desire to become monks, and then nanda asked the

Buddha, Can women attain arhatship? nandas intention with this

question was to inquire into the Buddha's contradictory attitude on equality

of dharma, as the Buddha teaches social equality and practices it through

building sagha, thus overcoming the caste system. The Buddha replied thatwomen can be arhat, the highest state of liberation(The Vinayapi%aka,

bhik4u!6 kkandhaka254), and allowed the community of Buddhist nuns. The

Buddha's enlightenment should be interpreted regarding to worldly affairs,

and the birth of women's sagha is based on such interpretation ofenlightenment.

Conversely, the Buddha set the 'Eight rules of honor' to the bhik4u!6

sa9gha, which dictate the behavioral norms to becoming a monk. These rules

especially emphasize the strict respect to bhik4u5, and provoke women's

opposition.Mahprajpat, the Buddha's aunt and stepmother, accepted these'Eight rules of honor' and became the firstbhik4u!6, but later she requested

the elimination of the first article for elder bhik4u!6 to pay respect to younger

bhik4us. However, the Buddha rejected her appeal by the reason that there

was no prevailing custom in society at the time.(The Bhik4u!6sa9gha257-258)

In addition, after bhik4u!6 sa9gha was formed, the Buddha revealed his

thought tonanda as follows.

If women did not intend to enter the sagha where they keep thisdoctrine and rules, the state of continence lives for over a thousand years.However, this state is going to remain only for five hundred years. Women'sentrance to the$rama!2 life can be a reason of diminishing life of the state ofcontinence. Making an analogy, it is like a house that be easily stolen due tothe lack of men and the abundance of women, or like an infective disease

5 The contents of 'Eight rules of honor' are as followings. (Bhik$u!2 kkandhaka T22:

923) Even though the bhik$u!6 of one hundred years old, she must respect thenew bhik4u. Bhik$u!6should not blame or scold bhik$u!. Bhik$u!6 should not

reveal bhik$u!6s sin, and should not make him remember or admit it. $ik4am2!2

need the order of monk from bhik$u!6 when she masters regulations. Bhik$u!6

commits sa!gh2va$e4a, she should be confined in both saghas for fifteen days. Bhik$u!6should ask bhik$u!6to teach orders for fifteen days. Bhik$u!6cannot do

v2r4ika (growing in the rainy season) unless there is a bhik$u!6. When bhik$u!6finishes v2r4ika, she has to ask for three works from bhik$usagha.


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ruining healthy grains. (Ibid.,:256)

Furthermore, the Buddha said that the 'Eight rules of honor' was to

prevent the degradation of the state of continence.(Ibid.,: 256 ; the

Aguttaraniky 272-277) As we accept these texts as they describe, the

Buddha allowed the bhik4u!6 sa9gha, set conditions of the Eight rules of

honor, denied to revise, and predicted the decrease of Right dharmas

continuance. How should this Buddha's attitude be understood and

interpreted? One argument is some bhik4u inserted the 'Eight rules of honor'

regardless of Buddha's intention when they were singing together(sa9g6ti) of

the Vinayapi%aka6. Another argument is that the possibility of later insertion

is unlikely and the rules must have existed in the initial period7. If theBuddha actually set the 'Eight rules of honor', the words on continuance of

dharma reduced to the Buddha's regret about the permission of bhik4u!6

sa9gha. When we consider the Buddhist doctrines, regret of the Buddha is an

impossibility. Such states of emotion as regret of the past and anticipation of

the future do not occur to the Buddha. (Wijayaratna, 1998 : 37)

The problematic nature of 'Eight rules of honor' is mentioned in many

scholarly works. The major points being ; Different from other rules

related to committed crimes, the Eight rules of honor is suggested

exceptionally as a condition of the Buddha's prophecy.(Paek, Ibid.,: 112)

The items in the Eight rules are too specific, such as both of bhik4u and

bhik4u!6 sa9gha, $ik4am2!2, six dharmas, and so on, even though the

community of Buddhist nuns had not been established.(Lee, 1985: 72)

Although the Eight rules of honor replaced the order of monk, only the

honor to bhik4u became a condition without requiring adoration for Buddha,

dharma, and sagha . (Jeon, 1986: 327) When the Eight rules of honor isincluded to the order of monk for bhik4u!6sa9gha later, this corresponds to

the light sin,pyattika. This is contradictory. (Ibid., : 328)

6 Ven. Hae-ju, Jeon said, After 500years since the Buddha passed away, theresponsibility for the confusion in the Abhidharma schools is set on the formation ofbhik4u!6sa9gha.(Jeon, 1986: 336)7 This argument is based of the fact that the topic was mentioned in both of theChinese gama and the Pali text Nikya and that there were already more than onerequest of revision at the time. It is also mentioned that establishing 'The eight rulesof honor' was socially and practically inevitable considering the gender inequality asthe norm in that time period. (Paek, 2001: 112-113) Nevertheless, this argument isproblematic. It assumes that this doctrine was accepted without any resistance atthat time, although it is questionable in current society. This assumption ignores theexistence of womens objections, and weakens the persuasiveness of this argument.


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Further investigation is required to find out whether the Buddhaestablished the Eight rules of honor by himself. Apart from the search of

historical fact, the problems of the Eight rules of honor would be pointed

out in terms of interpretation of dharma. First of all, the Buddha's principle of

equality is interpreted in a more passive and limited manner on the issues of

sex than of class. The Buddha might have to reflect contemporary Indian

social customs and institutions to operate as a religious group. However,

Buddhism broke these institutions, built the non-class system of sagha, andpresented the equal dharma through these historical facts. Therefore, keeping

a worldly discriminative custom only on issues of women is an obvious

contradiction. Secondly, while women's being monks is permitted by the

interpretation of equality, discriminative rules are applied in the problem of

respectful treatment. In other words, the spirit of permission and the

condition of rules as entering reveals double standard of equality and

discrimination.

In Early Buddhism, the community of Buddhist nuns was established

along with the predicament of the Eight rules of honor and blame of

degradation of Right dharma. In spite of these difficulties, women had strong

desire for liberation. There were many liberated women who attained

dharma according to the Buddha's teaching, and some texts, such as

Thergth recorded many case of womens enlightenment. 8 These women

left their painful worldly life, worshipped the Buddhist dharma, and were

reborn as new beings. This is valuable history showing womens possibility

to achieve enlightenment among social discrimination and prejudice.

2. Intensification of Androcentric Doctrine

After the Buddha's nirv2!2, Buddhist society was dominated by

conservative bhik4us, including Mahkyapa, who were willing to intensifyandrocentric doctrines. Some of the Buddha's disciples criticized nanda's

request for building bhik4u!6 sa9gha, and asked him to repent his fault. (The

Vinayapi%ak2 289) These bhik4us reinforced the theory of the reduction of

Buddhist dharma continuance by women's sagha, and justified theestablishment of Eight rules of honor. In addition, they set the doctrine that

women cannot attain Buddhahood due to their five hindrances. The doctrine

of women's five hindrances manifests the reason why women's attaining

8 In Thergth, there are songs of ninety-two liberated women, and rich descriptionon their internal experience and life.


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Buddhahood is more difficult than the case of men. Five hindrances are ;women cannot be reborn as the God akra, the God Brahm, the king mra, aCakravartin king, and a Buddha. This theory appears in the Gautam stra, the

Gautam Prophecy stra, the Mahsaka Vinaya, etc. Through these

conservative reforms, the prejudice and ignorance against women worsened.

Intensification of andocentric doctrine can be traced through different

historical texts, because description in each text shows subtle differences in

connection with theories related to women. According to the tradition of the

past Buddha, terms likebhik4u!6 sa9gha and a head bhik4u!6 ofsa9gha exist,

but the theory of the Right dharma's declination is not related.(Paek, Ibid.,:

112) Then, the Vinayapi%ak2shows that the appearance of bhik4u!6 sa9gha is

connected to the Right dharma's declination. Meanwhile, the theory of

declination is intensified through various texts. The Vinayapi%ak2 notes that

because of appearance of bhik4u!6 sa9gha, the Buddhist dharma is not going to

persist long and that if appearance of bhik4u!6 sa9gha does not exist, the

Buddhist dharma would remain for more than five hundred years longer. In

the Mahsaka Vinaya, the criticism is strengthened by saying, the Buddhist

dharma would strongly exist for a thousand years, but the time is decreased

to five hundred years due to the appearance of bhik4u!6 sa9gha.9

In the Gautam stra and the GautamProphecy stra, the appearance ofbhik4u!6 sa9gha is not related to the theory of the Right dharma's declination.

Instead, only the theory of womens five hindrances is included.(the Gautamstra T1, 606a-607b; the GautamProphecy stra T1, 857c-858a) The Mahsaka

Vinaya reveals the most systematic connection with the appearance of

bhik4u!6 sa9gha , the theory of the Right dharmas declination, and theory of

womens five hindrances, (the Mahsaka Vinaya T22, .186a) which provesthat it is the latest text on this issue.

The development of these theories can be explained and classified

according to several steps. In the first step, the appearance of bhik4u!6

sa9gha is not relevant to the theory of the Right dharmas declination. The

second step is characterized with the two relations of appearance of bhik4u!6

sa9gha either to the theory of declination, or to the theory of five hindrances.

The third step is the completion of an androcentric system by connecting thetheory of declination, theory of five hindrances and the appearance of

bhik4u!6 sa9gha .

9 According to Jeon, the appearance of the theory of 500 years reduction of the Rightdharma in texts is constructed in the present form after five hundred years ofBuddha's death. (Jeon 1986: 335)


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Furthermore, the theory that women cannot be a Buddha because offive hindrances is futher asserted by an additional reason that women are

missing retractable horse-penis marks among thirty two heroic marks of a

Buddha.10 Through this solidification of theory on women, it became a

generalized notion that women cannot be a tathgata 11 , the purpose of

Buddhist practice. Furthermore, womens sagha is the obstacle in Buddhismwhich will decrease the continuance of the Right dharma.

What was the process of intensification of androcentrism in the formal

aspects? In the development of sa!g6ti of stra and vinaya, only andocentric

contents could be selected, and the selection and distortion was increased

after the process of eachAbhidharma school's transmission. As we can easily

find the phrases referring to at five hundred years after the Buddha passed

away in many texts, the contemporary ideas could be intercepted into the

Buddhas text when they were written around the transition of B.C. and A.D.

Consequently, the discriminative doctrines against women could have been

added in the texts at this time. This tells us that the motive of intensification

of sexual discrimination is parallel to Buddhist hermeneutic occasions,

because the time of creating, transmitting, and transcribing of text are all

important hermeneutical occasions of Buddhism. Theories on women are

directly related to interpretation. The discriminative nature of Buddhist

doctrine is a product of andocentric interpretation without reflection on

alienation of dharma from reality.

10 In the 2nd period of boddhisattva's practise in Buddha's former life, akyabodhisattva is born into a man as a result of his practice, and gets thirty-two kinds ofspecial marks. These marks is not seen on a normal human body. Among them. the10th mark, retractable horse-penis mark means that tathgatas penis is hidden as ahorse. According to this idea, since women do not have penis, thirty-two markscannot be formed, and therefore women cannot be a Buddha. An advancedinterpretation is required regarding to the attainment of buddhahood, sex and

women's limitation.11 The notion of the attainment of Buddhahood started in Mahyna Buddhism.Previously, the attainment of arhatship is the final goal. Therefore, the impossibilityfor women to become a Buddha in the doctrine of womens five hinderance cannotappear in Abhidharma Buddhism, and be considered to an addition after arising ofMahyna Buddhism. More research on the influence of Mahyna doctrine toAbhidharma school is needed. The theory of five hindrances is accepted in the earlyMahynastras, and criticized and conquered in the laterMahyna texts.


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. Womens Conquest and Creation: The MagnifiedInterpretation of Mahyna Thoughts

1. Overcoming the Theory of Women's Five Hindrances

The status of women in Mahyna Buddhism is enlarged, compared to

previous Buddhist thought.Mahyna Buddhism was a Buddhist movementinitiated to recover from the problematic doctrines ofAbhidharma Buddhism.

It presented the thought of emptiness as a result of critique and

reinterpretation of contemporary Buddhism. The enhanced status of women

can be traced in early Mahyna texts, including laywomens activeparticipation in transmitting Mahyna thought. 12 According to NancySchuster Barnes, Mahyna Buddhism arose during a period when the

implications of the Buddha's teaching came under heavy scrutiny. In

particular, a doctrinal crisis erupted wherein the spiritual capacities of

women were challenged and a real effort was made to prove theologically

that women are inferior to men. (Barnes, 1987: 114). Therefore, for the

Mahyna Buddhist to overcome the theory of womens five hindrances wasa primary subject. The process of overcoming the theory through the

illustration of a few texts will be investigated.

The first case can be found in the Ngadatt stra. When a womannamed Ngadattvowed to attain Buddhahood, a mra disguised himself as

her father and said, A woman can not be reborn as a Cakravartin king.

Nevertheless, how can you expect to be reborn as a Buddha? Ngadattreplied, I have also heard that a woman cannot be reborn as a sage king, the

God akra, the God Brahm, and a Buddha. So, I shall transform my body

into a man's and practice the boddhisattva path to become a Buddha. And

then, she transformed her body into mans and received a Prediction of her

enlightment by the Buddha.(T14, p.909a) This text shows that a woman

overcomes a mras discouragement to achieve Buddhahood and receives a

Prophecy of attainment of enlightenment. But she doesnt criticize the theory

12The Mahprajpramit stra (T8, p.544b) says, If laymen and laywomen carry andread the Prajpramit, hundreds and thousands of heaven people come down tolisten to dharma and vitalize them. When the dharma teachers preach Prajpramitin the four groups of sagha, they are not afraid of audience's question and blame.Through this text, we can see that laywomen have preached Prajpramit to monks,and it is likely that this is a fact, for this stra describes the psychological difficultiesof laywomen minutely.


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of womans five hindrances and accepts it as true here.The Saddharmapu!3ar6ka s^tra tries to overcome the theory of hindrances

and to show directly a scene of womens attainment of Buddhahood.

riputra said to the daughter of the sea dragon king Sgara, Howcould you attain perfect enlightment? --- A womans body has fivehindrances.--- How can the body of a woman speedily achieveBuddhahood? Just then, in the space of an instant, the assembled multitudeall saw the sea dragon's daughter turn into a man, perfect the conduct of abodhisattva,---and achieve perfect enlightment with thirty two heroic marksand eighty beautiful features.(T9, p35; Jeon 1999, 124-125)

As the quote above shows, the Saddharmapu!3ar6ka s^tra has a daringdesign that the sea dragon's daughter conquers spiritual barrier and reveals

herself achieving enlightenment instantly. But there is not a criticism of the

problematic theory in this text. In addition, she became a Buddha with

thirty-two marks after transformation into a mans body.

In the Suryajihm6dara!aprabh2 s^tra, a monk called Uttaragata explains to

a woman named Prajdattthe reasons for limitation of being a woman. 13She objects to his view and argues that discrimination with regard to sex is

unfounded because it is constructed by many causes and conditions. The

Buddha praises Prajdatt. She transforms her female body into a males,and then, receives a prediction of attainment of Buddhahood.(T15: 542a)

This text shows mens more strengthened theory of hindrances, andwomens more aggressive attitude of criticism. Prajdatt conquers thetheory of hindrances by interpreting emptiness, as it were, absence of

substance. However, the stereotype of sexual transformation persists.

There are a few different views of Buddhist scholars about meaning of

the sexual transformation. According to Barnes, by breaking the habitual

tendency to cling to one's sexual identity as foundational, the transformation

of sex becomes the theatrical presentation of the meaning of sunyata.(Barnes,

1987: 120-121) As Jeon notes, the idea of sexual transformation for

13 Women cannot be reborn as the God akra, because of their impure and evilnature. Women cannot be reborn as the God Brahm, because of their unbridledindulgence in lust. Women cannot be reborn as the king Mra, because of theirarrogance regarding the true dharma. Women cannot be reborn as a universal

sage king, because of being endowed with eight-four latent bad qualities. Women cannot be reborn as a buddha, because of their hatred, ignorance,attachment to the mundane world, and karma accumulated through actions of body,speech, and mind. (T15: 541b ; Jeon, 19 99: 129)


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enlightenment appears to be a strategy that eventually led to a theory ofenlightenment in a female body.(Jeon, 1999: 138) Furthermore, Diana Y.

Paul argues that sexual transformation represents a transition from the

imperfection and immorality of human beings (the female body) to the

mental perfection of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas (the male body).(Paul,

1985: 175), and she said, We have the dichotomy of femaleness as an image

for the degraded mind and maleness as an image for the perfected

mind.(Ibid.,: 176)

Although the inference that women cannot attain Buddhahood has been

destroyed, the idea of sexual transformation remains as another issue to

overcome. The concept of sexual transformation into mans body seems to

be a result of limited interpretation of emptiness in Mahyna Buddhism,which still persists in realms of sexual dichotomy

2. Conquest of Sexual Transformation to Attain Enlightenment

It is considered that womens sexual transformation to prove their

enlightenment is Mahyna Buddhisms limit to conquer men's authority.

Although this branch demonstrated womens capability of awaking,

overcoming male authority is a difficult task. It can be shown by the fact that

many texts include sexual transformation motifs. In the Candrottar2d2rik2-

vy2kara!a s^tra, the Vimaladatt stra and the Mahratnakta stra14, the maleelder is often astounded by women's wisdom and spiritual advancement

and contradicts or challenges her. Often, this challenge is manifested in his

request that she prove her level of spiritual attainment by changing her sex.

(Gross, 1993: 67) The heroines of these texts preach the emptiness of sex and

the absence of sexual substance to the male disciples of the Buddha,

responding to the request for change of sex. Nevertheless, these female

figures still manifest contradictory behavior in using sexual transformation

to prove the validity of their argument.

A case of women's enlightenment without sex-change is found in the

stra of Sgarangarja. Ratnadatta, a daughter of the dragon king who

challenges the conservative disciple of the Buddha, Mahkyapa. She said,You have said, One cannot attain Buddhahood within a womans body.

Then, one cannot attain it within a mans body either. What is the reason?

Because ultimately mind is neither male nor female.(T15: 149c) After

14The Candrottar2d2rik2-vy2kara!a s^tra(T14: 620b) ; the Vimaladatt stra (T12: 106b) ;the Mahratnakta stra (T11: 554c-555b)


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declaring this, Ratnadatta receives a prophecy of Buddhahood attainmentfrom the Buddha without sex change. In this stra, a woman defeats a sense

of mans authority with a broader interpretation of emptiness, and is given

the prediction on her own body without any transformation.

In the Vimalakrtinirdea stra, a more advanced case of overcoming

andocentric sexual transformation appears. A goddess engages riputra, theeminent monk of wisdom, in a battle of wits. She changes the monk into her

likeness, and shows him clearly that sexual transformation can be applied to

a man's body. This episode confirms that the interpretation of emptiness

should be applied in the matter of sexuality. Mutual transformation between

male and female bodies is a proof of theory on emptiness that everything

has no fixed characteristics.

riputr : Why don't you change your female sex? Goddess : I have beenhere twelve years and have looked for the innate characteristics of thefemale sex and haven't been able to find them. How can I change them? Justas a magician creates an illusion of a woman, if someone asks why don't youchange your female sex, what is he asking? riputr : But an illusion iswithout any determinate innate characteristics so how could it be changed?Goddess : All things are also without any determinate innate characteristics,so how can you ask, why don't you change your female sex? Then thegoddess, by supernatural power, changed riputrinto a likeness of herselfand changed herself into a likeness of riputr and asked : Why don't youchange your female sex? riputr, in the form of a goddess, answered : Ido not know how I changed nor how I changed into a female form.Goddess : riputr, if you can change into a female form, then all women[in mental state] can also change. Just as you are not really a woman butappear to be female in form, all women, also only appear to be female inform but are not really women. Therefore, the Buddha said all are not reallymen or women. (T14: 548b-c)

The goddess transforms riputr into the body of herself, and makeshim think from a womans standpoint about the meaning of the request,

Why dont you change your female sex? By changing freely back and forth

from female to male, the goddess proves that maleness and femaleness are

not ultimately real but empty, like a show of magic.(Schuster, 1985: 90)

According to Rita Gross, By retaining her female form, the goddess

demonstrates the total relativity and insignificance of sexual differentiation.

(Gross, 1991: 108).

As above, the later Mahynastras such as Vimalakrtinirdea interpret

positively the concept of sex as a tentative and relative one and the

possibility of mutual conversion, and non-necessity of change to male for


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certification. Therefore, in addition to being capable of enlightenment,women gain victory over a custom of sexual transformation. This is a

triumph over the limitation of the dualistic notion that separates woman as a

symbol of humans imperfection and immorality, from man as a symbol of

Bodhisattvas mental perfection.

3. Conquest of Another Dualism and Women's Creative Interpretation

According toMahyna Buddhist doctrine, especially with regard to the

Bodhisattva's vow, there are two kinds of female image existent. One is a

woman who is required to escape from being a woman, and the other is a

woman who chooses being a woman spontaneously for others. With the

expansion of Mahyna Buddhism, many texts included the Bodhisattva's

vow which states intention to use self-enlightenment to save all suffering

beings. Meanwhile, women's wish to be reborn as men appears also in some

vows, because it is considered that a woman's life is full of suffering. In the

Str6vivarta-vy2kara!a s^tra, the Buddha preaches on women's suffering as

follows:

Women's bodies are not free, because they are bidden by others. Theyhave uncountable difficult labor of pestling pill and rice, grinding pea, smallbeans, or barley, spinning yarn out of cotton, and spinning the wheel, etc. So,

women have to be anxious about their bodies. To be free from this sufferingforever, women have to think like this : I will throw a woman's body awayand be reborn as a man fast. Then, I will become a Buddhist monk andpractice the bodhisattva path. I will never covet after clothes, dishes,ornaments.--- And the Buddha said, A woman Vimalarami, who hasalready achieved supreme perfect irretrograde enlightenment, was reborn asa woman to help all living beings achieve enlightenment.(T14: 919b-921a)

Women's bodies represent the suffering of living beings in this context.

All living beings desire to be liberated from suffering. However, because

women are bound by labors and duties, they are required to be reborn as

men ahead of liberation. On the other hand, the female bodhisattvas who

have achieved perfect enlightenment are considered to be in women's bodiesto serve and teach living beings. This is compatible with the general concept

of bodhisattva which holds that even if bodhisattvas leave the suffering

world, they will come back to this painful world to save others.

For example, in the Sumatidarika-paipccha stra, Sumati is critical of the

tranformation issue and vows for other women. She replies against

Majuurs advice that she transform her female body, The womans


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nature cannot be obtained. Why does it need for me to transform it into amans? However, Sumati proves the truth of her utterance by means of

transforming into a mans body. Then, she declares vows like this : I will

attain Buddhahood like the tathgatha of the kyas in the future. There are

not evil doing, evil intention, and features of women in my land.(T12: 78a)

Another example is in the Mahsanipta stra. This text explains in thefollowing about the significance of serving and teaching living beings in a

0womans body.

The purpose for the goddess serving, and teaching living beings in awomans likeness is to make living beings change their female bodies. She

does this in a womans body by reason that the transformation of a mansbody into a womans is easy, but the opposite is difficult.(T13 : 149b)

These texts connect the concept of a woman as the symbol of living

beings suffering with the concept of a woman as a bodhisattva of skillful

means. The female bodhisattvas action in saving women is expressed by

helping to escape from being a woman. The idea that an enlightened

womans vow to help suffering women in this world is an admirable virtue

of the bodhisattva. However, this bodhisattvas vow includes dualistic

limitations that divide the meaning of being a woman into two categories,

that of a confident woman (bodhisattva), and that of an abhorrent woman

(living beings). Therefore, a woman is able to achieve Buddhahood in herbody, but at the same time needs to be reborn as a man to acquire liberation.

This is contradictory and disturbs womens sense of sexual identity.

Such dualistic and contradictory view of woman is overcome in the

rml stra. According to the rml stra, the Buddha gives a prophecy of

attainment of Buddhahood to a lady named rml who has praised thevirtue of a Buddha.(T12: 217b) rml makes the vow to ten items, the vow

to three items, and one Great vow that she will accept the Right

teaching.(Ibid.,: 217b-218a) Then, she proves her vows to be true by the

appearance of a rain of flowers and a mystic sound from the heaven.(Ibid.,:

217c) rml preaches the dharma with the power borrowed from the

Buddha's authority. After she returned to her palaces, she relates the nobilityofMahyna Buddhism to her husband, the king. She also serves and teachesall women who are seven years or older in the palaces. The king teaches all

men. Thus, all of the nation turns towards the Mahyna Buddhism.(Ibid.,:223a)

In this rml stra, we do not find reference to sexual transformation


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into a man's body in the process of receiving a prediction, or to the vow tohelp women be reborn as men. In addition, for the method to prove the

sincerity of her vow, rml does not use sexual transformation but rathernatural events. Moreover, rml preaches the dharma with 'a voice like a

roaring lion' which previously has been used to represent only the Buddhas

character. This suggests that rml, a woman, is respected as a Buddha.Thus, rml stra has already overcome sexism, consciousness of mans

authority, and the desire to escape from being a woman.

rml, who destroyed the spiritual barrier that oppressed women,

shows new interpretations of the Buddhist doctrines. She says that men and

women, who have accepted the Right teachings, can comfort and be

compassionate toward all living beings and eventually become the Mother

of dharma in the world. (Ibid.,: 218b) Furthermore, the meaning of

Tathgatagarbha, the central concept in this text, is the 'womb of Tathgata'.

Tathgatagarbha, as it were, the dharma-kya in affliction, is compared to thewomb of the pregnant woman. The rml stra expresses the core of

Mahyna thought as female images such as this. Besides, in the last scene

rml has all the nation turn towards Mahyna Buddhism, together with

her husband, and gives many hints concerning the direction for Buddhist

feminism.

. Conclusion : Further Projects of Buddhist Feminism

The history of women in Buddhism has been a process in overcoming

limitation and prejudice about woman. This article intended to investigate

the process of intensification of androcentrism and the process of

overcoming it through the Buddhist texts from the viewpoint of feminism.

According to Gross, the attempt to limit and classify people on the basis of

sex... is to make absolute determinations and discriminations on the basis of

a relative, empty trait... such judgments and limitations absolutize the

relative(Gross, 1993: 177). Therefore, the doctrines of Buddhism have had

to be reinterpreted to correct the error of absolutization, and overcome thelimitation for woman. Generally, for feminists, the full realization of ones

potential entails eradication of conventional notions of femininity and

masculinity, and female and male sex roles, as well as the appropriation of

all human possibilities, institutions, and pursuits as womens (and mens)

birthright (Ibid.,: 1986: 44). Thus, Buddhist women, too have argued not only

are they equal with men in the achievement of Buddhahood, but also have


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made an effort to destroy the customary notion of sexism.Women have overcome a lot of obstacles resulting in a steady re-

interpretation of the Buddhas teaching, the spirit of critique about

androcentrism, womens passionate desire for enlightenment, and the

female bodhisattvas practice of saving living beings. We can find here the

possibility and direction for Buddhist feminism. The spirit of women has

been raised up by passing through the history of conquest. The rml stra

shows a newly interpreted and more developed Buddhist thought held by

women, which overcomes the limit of androcentrism. As Minamato notes, I

maintain that because the concept of equality between man and woman can

be found in Buddhism... Buddhism has the potential to develop a new form

of feminism (Minamato, 1991: 170). Buddhist feminism, which is the

meeting of Buddhism and feminism, has the basis of a fundamental equality

in Buddhism. Especially, Mahyna view enriches the significance of themeeting with feminism. For example, the intersection of sunyata and sex

gender is particularly revealing in light of recent feminist discourse asserting

that biological sex, as well as gender, is constructed (Butler, 1993).

Buddhism is not useful for considering the problems of women in

general without critical re-interpretation. Thus, the further investigation of

Buddhist feminism includes criticizing and interpreting Buddhist doctrines

from a feminist perspective. According to Rita Gross, by reinterpreting these

stories within a feminist framework, they are brought to their fullest

potential and emerge as much more into line with [their] own fundamental

values and vision than [they were] in patriarchal form (Gross, 1993: 3) In

addition to reinterpreting critically, it is necessary to exhume and absorb the

usable past(Ibid.,: 19) for women illustrated in the rml stra. Buddhistfeminism is expected to be a helpful theoretical quest towards saving and

liberating all living beings, especially when it is accompanied by a sincere

attitude to interpretation of Buddhist doctrine and self-reflection on

separation and discrimination of female from male, on ones own self from

others, and on reality from truth.


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Documents

Dharma, Interpretation and Buddhist Feminism